Shelter me
by im-a-quick-study-miss-sage
Summary: The story of the Gods after the End of the worlds as seen by the point of view of Maddy and Loki. Romances will blossom, mysteries will unravel and stories will be told. Who knows what could happen next? Runemarks/Runelight fanfic.
1. Sheltering Affections pt 1

Bliss. The breaking dawn sun escaping through her window, caressed her face as light as lovers kisses. She kept her eyes closed, savouring it's light touch, welcoming the warm sun rays filtering through her eyelids on that chilly winter morning. _This feels like heaven_...

She felt the matress sink in slightly, then settle as he stopped moving. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was awake. His body was slightly pressed on hers, his chest facing her side and his head resting on his hand. His other hand travelled up her body to find her face, caressesing her cheek.

_Hey... Maddy..., wake up... _he whispered faintly. His voice was so soft she couldn't resist a smile. He wasn't always like that.

Considering her smile gave her away, Maddy opened her eyes and looked at him for the first time that day, still smiling. He burried his hand in her hair and played with her locks, brushing them out lazely.

'You,' he said sleepily, 'are wearing my shirt.'

'Am I now?' she chuckled lightly.

'Lot's of work to be done today miss.'

'Yeah, I know.' she answered him in a wistful tone.

He gently detached his arm from her hair and got up in a single powerful, energized movement as if he'd been awake for hours. _That's just the way he is_, she thought. Always ready for a day full of fighting and shouting and getting himself in the way of danger and trouble.

The sun illiuminated him in orange and yellow as he opened the window, and she couldn't help but admire his hard feautures, and the way his chest rose and fell at his breathing or the way the muscles in his arms twiched as he pulled his shirt on. _The same shirt he was wearing last night_, she thought lazily.

He came around the bed, and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips, his hands resting on the matress at each side of her, forming some sort of a cage. He didn't pull away immediately after breaking the kiss though, lingering a while longer above her with closed eyes, their foreheads almost touching.

And then he was gone, like smoke drifting swiftly away.

She sat up gingerly with a sigh, cursing at her lover for being so completely unromantic at times. Then again though, part of why she still was with him was exactly that. Maddy herself was hardly a romantic; preferring to spend her time thinking about weapons and training and practical things. _A hug or two though, wouldn't be bad..._, she thought wistfully.

She stood up and strolled up to the small vanity table grabbing the brush and brushing her hair out sleepily before showering and changing into fighting gear and storming off to find Loki at her grandfather's house.


	2. Sheltering affections pt 2

_-Shelter me, from the cold starless night,_

_ Shelter me from the ghosts in my mind..._

* * *

'But I want in!'

Maddy was shouting unsuccesfully at everyone for the last hour or so, trying to convince them to listen to her, or see to reason.

'This is so_ UNFAIR!' _

The gods had their backs on her, drowning her cries in their conversation, doing their best to ignore her. Thor was tempted more than once to use a silencing cantrip on his daughter but even he knew better than that. _A frantic woman's fury is a thousand times worse than a hundred hordes of demons,_ he always said.

'LOKI!' she screamed. The room came to a halting silence as the Trickster locked eyes with the irate daughter of the Firefok. Another moment of silence passed before he dragged his gaze from the goddess and answered firmly, 'No.'

Maddy tried her best not to squeal. 'I don't understand! I'm not even that young, and I've had tons of experiece! This is so stupid, it's not like anyone so far has even encountered any dangers! Why can't I patrol with you?'

Patrolling, was something of a necessity now in the face of a possible new danger. Every now and then, the gods would group and go patrolling outside Asgard, in villages and towns and cities, not quite searching for something so much as wishing it weren't really there.

'You've all done it except for me and Idun! Is that what you think of me? That I'm naive and useless?' Maddy didn't really mean that; she only meant to get their attention but the look on Idun's face was terrible enough for her to swallow her tongue for a few terrible moments.

'Oh no Idun I didn't mean it like that, I'm so sorry!' She crept closer to her, but the tearful godess moved away from her touch as if it were venom.

Maddy was really sorry now, she just wished she had never opened her goddamned mouth. She watched in regret as Idun made her way out of the Parsonage, the place where the Gods met and conferred. Earlier that day she was at Odin's house, pampering her grandfather so that he would let her go with them. He hadn't.

'Great, now my only supporter's crying her eyes out because of me.' she said more to herself than the circle of Gods watching her closely.

'I'll go talk to her Maddy, I know you didn't mean what you said.' offered Bragi.

'Yeah, thank you.' she said in a small voice as he made his way out of the room.

She sank down in a large brown armchair as she watched the gods slowly but steadily engrossing in deep conversation again, talking about locations, maps, weapons and tactics, all the while thinking that perhaps she wasn't worth getting to patrol after all.

After quite a while she felt the armchairs arm sink in and a hand caressesing her forehead down to her cheek. She looked up and saw him, bathed in light, his gaze troubled and deep.

'Why do you never do as you're told?' Loki asked softly.

'I don't know. I just don't.' she said stubbornly. She took his hand in hers and kept looking at it as if it held all the secrets in the world.

Loki knew what she was doing. She was avoiding his gaze, afraid he would judge her. Of course she never did as she was told. That's part of why he was with her in the first place. He sank deeper next to her in the armchair draping his arms around her, bringing her face closer to his.

She looked up in a sea of jade green and she thought she was going to die. _I could drown in these eyes,_ she thought. _I could actually drown in him and not give a care._

He tilded his head forward so their foreheads touched, eyes closed, her hands resting on his chest.

'Alright.' he said resigned. He pulled his head back so that he was looking her straight in the eye. 'You win.'

'What?' she said. He didn't answer. He didn't have to.

She kissed him full on the mouth, her lips crushing into his with such force it crushed the air out of his lungs. He was an excellent kisser, so much that his kisses always left her dizzy or breathless and this one was no different. Sometimes she thought that maybe the chaos in his blood was why he was so good at it, but when they were kissing, no, she knew that the charm and skill he had was all because of his natural talent in love-making.

He was actually taking her side on this. He'd try to convince the gods to let her go with them. And he'd manage it too, she was sure of it.

His kiss was sweeter now, less fierce but still focused, his hands interlaced in her hair and Maddy was suddenly aware that everyone in the room must have stopped what they were doing and were looking at them. The sets of gasps followed by an absolute silence confirmed as much.

She'd never kissed him in front of anyone but Sugar, and they'd never told anoyne about them being together, though they both knew that everyone was aware of that already. They would act really comfortable around each other and even couply at times, so she guessed it wasn't so much of a shock to them right now.

She was wrong.


	3. Sheltering Affections pt 3

_-I feel alive, when I am in your arms,_

_ you set me free..._

_ Shelter me..._

* * *

The noise was deafening.

Maddy and Loki had broken their kiss for what felt like ten minutes now, though they still held each other in a loose embrace, waiting for the uproar to die down.

'Please let me hammer him!' That was Thor.

'Ha ha ha, I can't believe this is actually happening!' exclaimed Skadi bursting in unrestrained laughter.

'We should be thankful Sigun's not here!' said Ethel shaken.

Maddy had had enough. She stood up fiercely bringing everyone in the room to a standstill. Even Loki looked up at her in a funny way.

'That's enough! It's not like you didn't know this was going on in the first place! We've been together for quite sometime now and even though you knew, you didn't raise an eyebrow until now, and thats only because I kissed him in front of you. As if I hadn't kissed him before!' she exclaimed angrily, ending her violent outburst.

No one spoke for a moment and Maddy dared to look up to the closest friend she had, other than Loki, her grandfather, the man she'd once known as One-Eye, and the man she later came to know as Perth. He hadn't said anything for the past ten minutes, hadn't twitched so much as a muscle, only looked at the two of them with a knowing -and somewhat amused- glint in his eye.

'She's right.' he said then with a playful smirk on his face. 'We've known about your relationship for quite some time now. I guess this just makes it official.' he supplied.

Maddy felt relief pouring through her. She felt a hand in her waist as Loki stood up next to her grinning that crooked smile of his. 'Is my brother the only reasonable man in here?' he asked.

'I'm going to wipe that grin of your face if you don't-' Thor started to say but stopped when the Allfather shot him a dangerous look.

'If I don't... what?' pushed Loki, who liked pushing things -or people for that matter- to the limits.

'Never mind.' sighed the Thunder God.

'Look,' said Loki strolling towards the center of the room, suddenly all bussiness, 'just so that we get back to the point, maybe... maybe we should just take her with us.'

Another one of those familiar uproars went up and Loki had to wait once more for the noise to die down.

'Please let me hammer him for_ Hell's sake_!'

'Hey!' he exclaimed fiercely. 'If you don't want to hear me, then why don't you just listen to her?'

Everyone then looked up at Maddy, who seemed a little lost for a change.

'Go on just make your plea already!' said Loki, leaning back on a magnificent oar desk that was in the room.

Maddy swallowed hard.

'OK,' she started with a small voice. _Just be charming Maddy, just like Loki. It's simple enough. Right. _'I uhm, think that leaving me out of the loop in this one is completely unfair.' She though everyone was looking at her as if she was a complete idiot. She took a deep breath.

'I'm experienced enough as any of you. And I'm strong too, more so than it's right to admit. I've proven my skills many times in the past, and I'm keeping up well with my practise too.'

Practise was another necessity now that she was a warrior. Everyday she had to practise as hard as she could to build endurance and stamina and learn how to fight without magic.

'I can come with you, and I can be really useful if you just let me be.'

She paused, holding her breath for wht seemed like an eternity before someone finally spoke. It was Heimdall, exchanging glances with the General while he spoke, as if they had a telepathical converse only they could attend to.

'I guess you have a fair point. We'll discuss it later and let you know for sure.' His hawk-like gaze fell on her.

'Th-Thank you.' she stammered. She didn't know what to say. She didn't think they'd even think about it. But they had. And largely that was because of Loki. He let her know he'd support her, gave her the courage, then gave her the stage to speak.

It was all she could offer them at the point, so she excused herself and left the room eventually before giving Loki a long last measuring yet promising look.

She'd made it.

She'd get to patrol.


	4. Sheltering Affections pt 4

_-There is a sadness in my bones_  
_ And I cannot let go of the sadness..._  
_ There is a silence and it's leading me into madness..._

* * *

Brown curls drifting slowly in the wind. Warm, hazel ayes. A radiant smile and soft lips. Elegant hands and a delicate petite body.

Maddy.

Loki was back in his shed, the only thing he'd build up all by himself and he was so proud of himself for that. He was completely exhasted now after a three hour long meeting with the Godfolk. Lying back on his narrow bed, he found himself thinking about her. Their relationship was pretty much official to everyone now and that he didn't like. Surely no one would dare suggest a thing about_ marriage?_

He had just had his second -or should he say third?- divorce, and seeing as his ex wife, Sigun was a lunating and his former ex wife a cuckoo, the idea of marriage didn't appeal much to him.

But of course, should anyone throw such a concept on the table, Maddy wouldn't hesitate punching them. The thought of her punching someone put a little smile on his face.

He had never really thought of love as a concept. He did now, for some reason. Perhaps he had felt the brush of love more than five hundred years ago with Sigun, but soon enough he came to realise it wasn't love at all but some impulse of his. She was really pretty after all.

But Maddy... Maddy was still a mystery to him. She was beautiful; that was for sure. She was also very funny and smart. She was almost his rival when it came her wit. Other than that, she was down to earth unlike the other godesses which made her even more beautiful to him. And boy, was she a challenge to him.

The reason he could never settle down with Sigun was become she was way to attached to him. Then Angrboda, was a wild card, even wilder than him at times so he could imagine why they never worked out. Maddy though was like in perfect balance between the two of them. A little wild, though easily tamed. Slightly attached, but in reasonable levels. She didn't interfere with him like a nosy girlfriend, though she knew how to show her affection.

He had never told her he loved her, he realised. Never; not once. But then again she had never made any mention about love either. He didn't know what to think of that.

A soft knock on the door snapped him out of his reverie. 'Hmmmm...? Come in.' Of course he knew who it was before she stepped inside.

She stuck her head through the door and smiled radiantly at him. 'May I come in?' she grinned.

'Don't act silly.' he said smiling his crooked smile up at her.

Maddy stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She knelt by the bed and took hold of his hands in hers; her gaze locked in his.

'Thank you.' she whispered to him. His only answer was to look back at her steadily. He had his thinking face on. Maddy was scared.

'Is something wrong?' she asked him softly. He wanted to tell her that no, nothing was wrong, that in fact everything was as perfect as it could get, which was for him not perfect at all, and that she was so very beautiful. He thought back to the first time he had ever slept with her. It was in an inn at World's End, of all places, and they had been looking for her sister at the time. He had spend all night with Maddy in his arms kissing her fiercely. It was a pretty thought. He couldn't forget that night even if he wanted to.

He was kissing her passionately in the lips; his hands around her waist; his fingers tracing hot paths along her bare skin. He felt her stir just then, placing her hands on his chest as if to push him lightly away. He looked down at her then and his breath caught at her beauty. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks flushed. She was so pretty. She had looked as if she wanted to say something at the time but she couldn't bring herself to form some sort of a phrase. He understood immediately. He brushed his lips lightly against hers and murmured that she didn't have to worry or be scared and that she was beautiful.

Then he pulled her into his arms and laid back. She had laid her head at the curve of his shoulder and they were holding each other in a loose embrace until she fell asleep. He hadn't quite managed to sleep that night. He kept watching her steady breathing all night long and savoured the way she fit so perfectly against him, how the cradle of his shoulder was made for her head.

'Loki.' once more he was snapped out of his daydreaming and focused back at her amber brown eyes.

He knew the truth just then and grinned softly.

'I love you.' he said.

* * *

Next chapter coming soon xoxo :D


	5. Sheltering Affections pt 5

Maddy thought she was going to be sick.

'What?' she said in a hushed dead voice.

This was big. Loki was standing in front of her dead serious telling her he loved her. She couldn't believe it. It was just unreal.

'I love you. I think.' he said as if he had suddenly lost some of his bravado.

'You think?'

'Yes, I think I knew for a while but just didn't know I... well knew. I'm sorry, is this confusing?' he asked weirdly. Obviously he wasn't used to making love declarations.

'Is this confusing?' Maddy couldn't help but keep repeating everything he said.

'Are you OK?' Loki asked scrutinizing her.

'Am I O-...sorry I need to stop doing that.' she said a little bewildered.

'You know,' carried on Loki after yet another moment of scrunity, 'when people tell someone they love them they usually expect them to say it back.'

'Oh...' snapped Maddy. 'Yes of course. I... I love you too I guess.'

Loki grinned wildly at that.

'Of course you do, I'm stunningly charming and attractive.' he added and leaned in for a tight hug which of course Maddy was more than willing to give him.

The world was reeling in front of her. She though of all the things she believed Loki was capable of, but she couldn't quite get into her head the image of him telling her he loved her. Her thoughts went back to the first night she had ever spent with him. Of course sleeping with him was entirely out of the plan at the time.

They were in World's End in, what she would call, a mission to find her sister. They had planned to stay in a local inn for the night when the innkeeper told them there was only one room left and that they were full. It had felt really weird for her then to imagine sleeping in the same room with Loki but she was determined to get through with it.

Everything was going just fine until they suddenly started fighting. Now she couldn't quite remember the reason why, but of course it didn't matter sincce they usually fought all the time anyway. Loki was leaning dangerously close to her, shouting like a maniac that she was a pain in the butt sometimes or something like that and Maddy found herself replying back to him with the same amount of yelling and frustration.

At some point he seemed to have had enough.

'Shut up already!' he screamed finally and kissed her with such passion it blew her away.

At first she went rigid all over with the sudden turn of events but soon after that she found herself responding hungrily back at his kiss. Her hands went around Loki's neck as he grabbed her up from her thighs and shoved her against the old wall. Passion exploded between them like a firework. After a very passionate against-the-wall make out session he carried her all the way to the other end of the room and laid her softly on the bed though their lips didn't break contact at all in the process. It was exhilarating.

After a while she felt him stir and he broke the kiss. He looked down at her with such desire and longing it made her little heart shutter. He gave her a tiny butterfly kiss on the lips and then another, and then another before deepening the kiss. All the animal instincts were gone only to be replaced by a feeling Maddy couldn't quite define. It was warm and tingly and fuzzy like the the heat of a fireplace on a chilly afternoon or the feeling of safety and familiarity. It felt like home. There was no going back after that.

She had spent the whole night in his arms and it was the best sleep she had had in a long time.

And just like that she was certain. She loved him.

She jerked her head up now -he was a lot taller than her- and kissed him and smiled at him. She was happy and so was he and they both knew it. He took her hands and led her deeper into the room where he laid her down on the bed. His kiss was always sweet and intoxicating. He kept kissing her softly and even laid on top of her when suddenly the door jerked open revealing a frustrated Heimdall.

Maddy tried to jerk Loki off of her but there was no way she could do that in time. Loki did get off her eventually and lied at the end of the bed with a smug smile on his face.

'Heimdal, worst timing ever dude.' he said seemingly amused.

Heimdal only looked at them angrilly, his eyes resting a little bit more on Maddy who was quite flushed and had the upper part of her shirt undone. Heimdal noticed that, and the look on his face suddenly transformed into something unreadable.

'Get ready. We're patrolling together little bird.' he said to her, his face a mask of irrigation once more and he slammed the door.

Maddy was so surprised and delighted, that she had no words. Loki did though.

'Do your shirt.' he said after a while a little angrilly as he got up.

'What? Oh, my shirt.' said Maddy noticing her state. 'What's wrong?' she asked him. 'What did I do?'

'Nothing. You did nothing.' said Loki as he left the room.

'Wait, Loki!' she screamed after him.

* * *

Ahhhhh cliffy! Hope someone -actually- likes this story because I will be continuing it. The Runemarks fandom may be small, but it's growing!


	6. Sheltering Affections pt 6

Maddy was pretty contented. She was packing up her things and getting ready for she was in a mission.

Every now and then, the gods would go in parties outside of Asgard, just checking around, making sure everything was OK. The truth is that they weren't looking for something in particular, only wishing it wouldn't find them.

Three years had passed before Maddy last saw Maggie Rede, and right now, just thinking about it, a pain welled up inside of her, just like it happened when she always thought about her sister. A tough girl Maggie was.

Maggie had fallen in love, the all-consuming kind and that kind of love nearly destroyed her. She got pregnant, only no one really got to know anything about her child. The other gods believe her child died before it was even born, and that the Nameless possesses its body. Maddy herself tried to keep hope. She thought that maybe, _just maybe_, things weren't like that. They still had to keep their eyes open though. That was the whole point of patrolling after all.

She heard the door close and her thoughts of Maggie and the mission were replaced by thoughts of worry and thoughts of _him_.

'Hey." Loki entered her room and leaned casually against the door frame. 'What's up?'

'What's up?' Maddy asked increduslously. 'You tell me what's up since you're the one who left in the first place.' she said continuing her packing.

'Nothing, I just wanted to get some fresh air, you know with the atmosphere being steamy back there and all.' He grinned a little. It was infuriating.

'Well OK, you could though tell me that back then when I was calling for you.'

'Oh well you know me.' A moment of pause passed before he added hastily,

'So, you're going patrolling with Heimdal. I pity you.'

Maddy laughed softly at that. 'Why is that Loki? He's plain awesome.'

'You really think so?' he added seeming a little worried.

'Yeah, I do. Just because he wants to rip your head off does not make him a bad guy, I want to do it too sometimes.' she added laughing.

'First of all you love my head and there's no way you'd ever think of ripping it off and second of all well, I was thinking that maybe it's a little...you know, early for you to uhmmm, go patrolling. Don't you think?'

Maddy froze in place whilst packing.

'What?' she said, clearly taken aback. 'Forget about it, I'm going.'

'But..."

'No buts Loki, this is final!'

'OK.' he said after a moments pause, seemingly resigned. 'I should know better than trying to change your mind. As if you ever listen.'

'Exactly.' she added and threw a bag over her shoulder. 'Now would you be so kind?'

'Yeah, fine.' he said and took hold of a second bag for her.

'How many clothes did you pack, why is this so heavy?' he asked.

'Oh that's just my weapons darling.'

'Oh of course.' he smiled and followed her out.

* * *

All the gods were outside the grand castle of Asgard and at the roots of the Rainbow Bridge from where Maddy and Heimdal were supposed to leave. After a while Maddy and Loki joined them both engrossing into deep conversation about the patrol.

'Don't worry Maddy, I'll make sure you're safe the whole time, even though I'm not sure you'll need it.' said Heimdal.

'Thank you, it really means a lot, though I kind of pity the person who tries to attack me.'

'Me too.' he said and they started laughing.

'Hmmm, everything settled?' asked Loki, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air, while he slid his arm around Maddy's shoulder protectively. He gave Heimdal a funny look, though Maddy didn't quite catch it at the time. 'Yap, everything's set Dogstar.' replied Heimdal eyeing Loki venomously.

Heimdal and Loki didn't really get along. OK no one really got along with Loki but that was fine with him. As long as he had Maddy and his brother he didn't really care. Heimdal though was threatening to take both of them away and he didn't like that. Maybe it was just him but he thought that sometimes Heimdal was looking at Maddy a little too long or a little too much and the incident today back at his shed was no different. He identified longing and lust when he saw it, and Heimdals eyes were gleaming dangerously when his eyes fell on her. He wasn't stupid. He just hoped he was smart enough to keep her.

'OK then I guess you're set to go. Could you excuse us?' he asked a little too innocently before pulling Maddy away.

'Really, I'll be back in no time.' she said when they were alone seeing Lokis face. 'Don't worry about me, I'll be f-' she couldn't complete what the wanted to say because Loki was kissing her with both ferocity and gentleness. Though she was initially taken aback -and originally a little worried about everyone staring- she finally relaxed into the kiss and melt in his embrace. He took hold of her hands and kissed each one of them before saying, 'Just take care of Goldy over here. He gets a little excited if let loose.'

'I... OK,' she said a little dizzy from that fiery kiss. Loki leaned in and kissed her one last time on the cheek and whispered in her ear ' I love you.' and then let her go. Maddy looked back before she and Heimdal stepped on the edge of the Rainbow Bridge and she was glad that the last person she saw was Loki.

* * *

Yeah OK, crazy plot twist right here but...I'm crazy so... yeah!


	7. Sheltering Affections pt 7

The Worlds End.

Three years had gone by since the End of the Worlds came to Worlds End. Now the city had been restored to its first glory, only lacking its ever-looming former religion, the Order.

Where wrecked buildings and premises where, now stood tall and magnificent structures. Large squares, cheerful little shops, fountains with gleaming waters, children running around playing. It was beautiful.

The library and other public services were reconstructed and open, once more to the public. The city burst with life and music. Maddy knew, that was all her sister's doing. Maggie had said before she left that she would be the one to restore Worlds End. And restore it she had.

'Maddy come on.' urged Heimdal.

'So where are we going and when do we start?' asked Maddy eagerly trying to keep up with his quick pacing.

'I've made this plan about suspicious places and where it would be possible to find... threats to the gods.'

'Just say it Heimdal. The Nameless is what we're looking for, right?'

Heimdal stopped at his tracks and turned to look at her. It was a scary, piercing look.

'Don't you dare think for one moment that I'm scared to say his name or something. Wake up Maddy. At the current moment Mimir is our last care. Though if he has recruited other people to guard and keep his precious Order while he's still growing, well.. that remains to be seen.'

'Why is everyone so certain that he has possesed Maggies son? Adam he... he is just a little boy no more than three years old. I still keep hope that things are not like that.'

'You're just a little girl aren't you?' he asked her despondently. _He seemed a little tired_, Maddy thought. 'Of course you are,' he said a little wistfully, 'Maddy youth is good, only its naive. You are naive. Odin told us and Odin is a Seer.'

'But you can never trust a Seer!' she demanded.

'No you can't. But I trust my friend. Now we need to get going.' he said resuming his quick pace.

'OK then.' she said and followed him.

First they searched through the Woods just outside the city. It was long and it was tiring, though it had to be done. Then they visited the outskirts, covertly searching around and long last they returned to the city.

'We need to find a place to sleep.' said Heimdal seemingly tired. Not that Maddy wasn't tired; she was a wreck.

'I couldn't agree more with you. Let's go.'

They finally found a small, peppy inn to stay the night.

'We'll stay in one room for safety, is that OK with you?' he asked her.

'Yeah sure, no problem with me.' Maddy told him, NOT that it didn't feel weird. Unlike the room she and Loki had rent, this one had two seperate beds (Heimdal must had requested that) and it was a lot more spacious. The moment she entered she threw her bags on the floor and fell onto the bed.

'Ughhh, I ache. All. Over.' she said.

'Same here.' answered Heimdal who unlike her took both their bags and settled things around. 'Should I get us something to eat, seeing as you don't look like moving from that bed.'

'That would be awesome.' she told him. 'Thanks.'

'OK then.' he said and left.

Maddy grabbed the opportunity to change into bed clothing now that she was alone. She changed out of her dirty pants and blouse and into a comfy knee-lenght night gown. It wasn't exavtly modest, though it was not very revealing either. It was made of light pink silk though (Loki loved silk) and had black lace details at the hem and straps. Also it was quite fitting around the waist and Maddy couldn't help but think if it was appropriate in this situation. Oh well, there was nothing she could do about it now.

Heimdal came in with two bags that smelled like heaven. When he looked at her though, he froze for a minute.

'Umhh, here you go.' he told her uncomfortably _-was he avoiding looking at her?-_ and gave her the bag.

'Oh, thank you very much.' she answered.

Perhaps the night gown was rather inappropriate at the current moment, but really what was she supposed to do? Sleep in hunters gear?

She opened the bag and they both sat down to eat.

'I got you chicken, I hope it's OK'

'Right now, it's all I could have hoped for.' she said and started eating. After that they did some small talk, mainly about the day to come and then they both fell asleep.

* * *

Blood. A lot of blood. Pools of it.

Dead men chanting her name like a solemn prayer, _Maddy...Maddy..._

Loki was among them but he didn't speak. He only looked at her with those eyes who were like pits of wildfire when he was alive, only now they pits were empty, the fire gone. She was in pain, in all kinds of physical and mental pain. A voice cut through the skies, tearing at her skull. _It's over,_ it hissed. _Over..._

_Maddy?_

She woke up screaming, her forehead gleaming with sweat, her head was light. She felt the brush of a hand on her arm.

'Are you OK, hey, Maddy look at me.' she focused back at the person before her. Heimdal had knelt by her bed, a worried look plastered on his face.

'I...yeah fine, I'm fine.' she said and climbed of the bed heading for the flagon of water. She used it to wash off some of the nightmare's threads from her face and tried to drink some.

Heimdal was looking silently at her for a while. Then he slowly approached her by the table and tucked part of the hair that was falling in front of her face behind her ear.

'What in Hell's name was that?' he asked her puzzled.

'Just a dream. A nightmare.' she whispered her voice shaking.

'It seemed like more than just a common nightmare to me. Do you have any idea how much you were screaming and twitching? It was quite scary.'

'Yeah, it's nothing, it's happened before. I can handle it.'

'Can you?' he asked turning her so that she faced him. Tears glistened in her eyes.

'Yes.' she answered firmly and went back to her bed. He did so as well but neither slept after that.

The next day would be a hard one.


	8. Sheltering Affections pt 8

The brightness of the sun was merciless. Today was one of the clearest, sunniest days Maddy had ever seen in World's End, and the birds were constantly chirping. In any other case, Maddy wouldn't really mind that, but after a long sleepless night the sun was hurting her eyes and the chirping was like a hammer in her head. She tried to relax, knowing that after they returned to Asgard later that day, she would pay Idun a visit.

For now though she had to remain focused in the task at hand. It was the duo's last day in the Universal City and they would visit the catacombs that lay under it.

Maggie had first discovered these a few years ago where she would spend hours reading and exploring the dusty underground pavements. Just as they did back then, the catacombs now were useless and uninhabited.

Just before they reached the secret door that led under the heart of the City, Maddy gave Heimdal a long measuring look. He too, as it appeared, was suffering from the same hammering headache. He hadn't spoken at all on their way here and his skin seemed to be just a tiny tone paler. Just like her, he didn't get any sort of sleep last night. Instead he stayed awake and alert in case she needed anything. It was a sweet thing to do, only Maddy found it wasn't really needed and that it didn't quite fit Heimdal. Well, sometimes people surprised you.

They both halted in front of an old, rickety door that didn't really seem like a door rather than part of a wall from an old building. You just had to search the wall for a push-in brick that would activate it. Heimdal found it almost immediately. Of course. The hawk-eyed god?

He turned around to face her just before they entered.

'OK, this is the last place we're searching in this patrol. Down here it's going to be very dusty and it may have rats, just so you know.'

'I don't mind rats. Not very much.'

'It should be quite harmless too, just like the other places though do tell me you have your weapons together.'

'Of course! I'm armed foot to crown Heimdal. I can face an army just by myself.' she answered jokingly.

'I think rats will be your biggest pray.' he said and he cautiously entered the dark corridor.

He cast Sol at the never-ending darkness so that they could see again. The corridors seemed to be ever-ending. They ramified and on and on they went.

'Uhhmmm, how exactly are we going to get back? Won't we get lost?'

'Signatures Maddy.' he said without really looking as if he had listened to her at all. He was completely focused at the task at hand.

'Oh right.' she had forgotten about that. Every living creature left a certain trail of colour behind them that was unique to them. Magical creatures had the ability to see them using the rune Bjarkan. Heimdal was right. There weren't exactly many passers-by down here so they would easily identify the path they were coming from just by-

'Oh _shit_.'

'What?' that came from Heimdal. He looked kind of bewildered at hearing Maddy swear.

She turned around to look at him, her face a mask of astonishment and fear.

'Look.' she whispered cold sweat trailing down her back.

He understood immediately. She meant_ look_, truly look so he fingered Bjarkan as well. His iris grew. Realization hit him. He unconsciously took hold of her hand and started half-walking, half-running back to where they came from.

'Don't talk.' he commanded.

Maddy of course wouldn't obey.

'You saw it too right? Rune trails? Whoever is down here, they are powerful. Those were strong signatures.'

'I counted at least seven Maddy, he have to hurry.' he said. 'There, I see light seeping through the door way ahead of us.'

Before they could make another step though three hooded figures blocked their way. Heimdal wasted no time and stroke one down immediately with a single strike of Tyr. The hooded figure fell to the ground. The two others though had some powerful rune shields protecting them that even Heimdal's attacks couldn't go through. Maddy herself was working on their shield, though it didn't seem strong enough.

She looked behind her only to see that there were three more men making their way towards them. They were going to be taken down. She and Heimdal had broken apart, each fighting seperately. He was trying to deal with three of those mysterious warlocks, whereas she was fighting the other two. They were surprisingly strong. Kaen and Hagall were her strongest attacks. Loki had taught her every single trick of Kaen.

It just wasn't enough though. The one on her right managed to get through the shield and Thuris threw her on her back gasping for breath. She must have hit her head because her vision had swamped and she felt like seeing stars. She felt the two men leaning over her. One of them pulled out what seemed to be a little dagger and took hold of her wrist. She couldn't help it though. She tried to finger Yr to protect herself but the other man took her free hand and stepped on it with such force, he must have broken it. Pain shot through her like a firework. He had definitely shattered the bones in her palm. She screamed as agony seized her.

Funny thing was she thought she was prepared. But when she was taken by surprise like that, she couldn't even make use of the extra weapons on her. What an idiot she was. Just a little girl.

She thought she heard Heimdal scream for her but she couldn't do anything about it. Tears rolled down her cheek as she watched the man on her left collect the blood that was trickling down her hand from a fine thin cut he had propably made with that dagger. He filled a little vial up with her blood and stood up. He gave a nod to the others -who Heimdal was still fighting with- and they suddenly seemed to disappear out of thin air, as if they were dematerializing from where they stood. Maddy whimpered softly at the pain that was shoting through her.

Heimdal stood up -when had he fallen down?- and ran at ther side. He studied her, checked if her spine or any ribs had broken from the impact of the fall, and when he realised her back wasn't severely damaged he scooped her up and carried her outside. Maddy thought she heard him talking but she couldn't really make out any words. Her vision was blurry and she just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep. Heimdal wouldn't let her though.

'Don't you sleep on me now. Just hold on a little more Maddy.' his voice came in and out of focus now.

She couldn't hold on any longer though. She closed her eyes and got lost in a dark oblivion.

* * *

AHHHHHHHH, OK I reaaly wanted some action to go down because let's face it the romance was a little overwhelming.

R&R pretty please? ^^


	9. Sheltering Affections pt 9

_'It's over... over...'_

_'Did you really think you'd get away?'_

_'I'm going to find you... and when I do... it's going to be too late for you...'_

She opened her eyes. She was in a room. No wait, this was her house. Was it... midday?

'Loki..?' she asked softly. Then suddenly his green eyes, lined with signs of fatigue came into view.

'And sleeping beauty is finally coming round.' he tried to joke though his face remained serious.

'How are you feeling?' he asked her, worry lining his features.

'I uhhhh... I'm not sure. How long have I been out?'

'Three days.'

'Three... _days?_ Three whole days?'

He sat on the bed beside her.

'No Maddy you have actually been out for about a month now, but I didn't want to tell you.'

'Are you kidding me?'

'Of course I'm kidding you!'

'What happened?'

'You seriously don't remember?'

She nodded that no she didn't, actually.

'Well,' he said stretching beside her, letting her head rest on the curve of his shoulder whilst bringing his arms around her, 'I'm not sure if I can answer that to you. You were out patrolling with Heimdal and something must have gone terribly wrong because instead of the two of you coming back together safe and sound, he came in panicked with you in his arms and the two of you were full of blood, but as it turned out the blood was all yours. Heimdal got away with a few scratches and bruises, but you were severely hurt.'

'I was... hurt?'

'Yes, you were.' he whispered.

'All this happened?'

'Yes. When you first came in you were half-unconscious so we force-fed you an apple from Idun's basket to heal you. We did heal you but I guess it wasn't enough. You were propably still exhausted from the fight so you kind of slept for eighty hours straight. And... that's all.'

'Wow.' she said after a while of thought.

'That's not how I would describe it.' he laughed miserably.

She looked up at him.

'Let's go. I want to check on Heimdal. See if he can fill me up a little.'

'What right now?' he asked incredulously.

'Yes right now!' she said as she got up.

* * *

Odin along with Thor and Heimdal were in the Parsonage. Loki opened the door for her which was kind of a surprising gesture. When it came to being a gentleman, _-hell when it came to at least being nice- _he usually didn't score any points.

In fact Loki, seemed to constantly dual with his two sides. There was his wildfire side which set everyone off, and then there was a milder side, which he sometimes put up when he was with her. She didn't fool herself though. She wanted him either way.

Everyone looked up at her as she made her way in the room. Loki just found a comfortable armchair and indulged himself with Ethel's cupcakes which she had left there for them. Oh well, no one was going to have any now.

'How are you feeling?' that came from Odin.

'I'm fine, just fine, thank you. Heimdal are _you_ OK?' she turned to him.

'Yes, I wasn't really hurt.' he said scrutinizing her wearily.

'I'll have you know then that I... I don't remember a thing so, please, enlighten me.'

'You don't?' he asked surprised, 'Well we were out on a patrol-'

'Wait hang on, Loki said that too, you actually let me do this for the first time and_ this_ happened? I mean I knew I had bad luck but _this_...'

'As you may have already figured out sweetie pie, there's no chance we're letting you out of our eyesight again.' grinned Loki who was sitting lazily on the armchair.

'Who the hell made you the boss?' she retorted back angrilly.

'That's something we all agreed on. Now if you could just let Heimdal resume his story...' said Odin.

'So,' he continued, 'the first day was completely without occurrences. We searched through the Woods and some outside villages and just went back to an inn. Where ,may I add, we managed to get zero sleep because you were screaming and writhing on your beadsheets, because you were having some nightmare. Well no one slept after that.'

Maddy paled at the hearing of the word nightmare. Loki caught that, the way he could spot any difference on her. He simply remained silent though.

'The following day, we would visit the catacombs. Little did we know that little Mimir minions would be recruiting down there.'

'How do we know they were recruiting for the Whisperer?'

'Some things you just know. It's a guess, but I'm positive. Anyway we were walking through the catacombs and you asked me how were we going to find our way back since they were more or less a labyrinth. I told you we would read our signature and when we did that we spotted other signatures too. Very strong ones. We started running, but these men that had left the signature trails were waiting for us. A fight broke out, though they had very strong magic. Three came for me and two others went for you,-'

'I'm sorry to interrupt but I was taken down by _two_ men? That's depressing.'

'Yeah well, I'll have you know that they were very powerful. One knocked you down and then they approached you. One of them took out a knife and I have no idea what else happened because really I was fighting too. You were screaming at some point. I tried to get to you, I really did, but it was a little difficult you see.'

'When you came back,' that was Loki, 'you had this cut in your wrist, you were bleeding profusely and your right hand was broken. And that's all we know.'

'The mystery remains though. Why didn't they kill you? Heimdal says that at some point the guy that was kneeling beside you got up, nodded at the others and they all just dissolved into thin air.' added the All-Father.

'To add to the mystery, the men were all hooded and they wore these really long robes.' said Heimdal.

'Great, just great. So what are we going to do? Are we going back there?'

Loki got up and strolled towards her.

'You in particular are going nowhere.' he said bringing his arm around her shoulders.

'Don't get me angry, Thrickster. You don't want to see that.' she said throwing his arm off her shoulders.

His eyes gleamed craftily.

'Oh I've seen it. It usually ended up with me unconscious. _But_-' he added, 'I don't think that will be the case now that I am in my true Aspect. Now walk out of this door and into your bedroom unless you want me to throw you over my shoulder and do that myself. I'll just lock you in there.' he smiled.

'Lock me in there? What did I ever do wrong?'

'Nothing, but I know you have this bad habit of never doing what you're told.'

'As if you don't-'

'You have three, two, o-'

'Fine!' she told him stroming off.

* * *

Mystery, mystery, mystery :D

R&R please!


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